Of 148 businesses surveyed by the Cleveland Fed, one said it currently uses stablecoins. That is not a typo.
Seven more said they plan to use stablecoins in the future.
The Cleveland Fed conducted its research in September 2025, about two months after the Genius Act became law, providing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin payments.
The survey covered companies in the Fourth Federal Reserve District: Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Reasons businesses are cool to using stablecoins include lack of familiarity with the technology, satisfaction with legacy payment options, and little to no demand among customers and suppliers to use stablecoins for payment. When asked what factors would influence their decision to use stablecoins, 49 respondents, about a third, cited the need for more time to observe market trends and adoption.
Some 42 survey respondents, just under a third, said they need more evidence stablecoins are cheaper or more efficient than other forms of payment.
Among respondents, 50, or about a third, said consumer demand to accept stablecoins for payment is a key factor influencing their decision to use stablecoins. McPherson said, “To get people to want to pay with stablecoins, they need an inducement to do so, such as earning rewards.”
Peter Zimmerman, a research economist for the Cleveland Fed who co-authored the report, said, “We didn’t expect the results to be as lopsided as they were.” While respondents were not “terribly critical” of stablecoins in their comments, many said they needed “more time to understand the technology,” Zimmerman said.
I read this as a reminder that new payment rails do not replace old habits just because a law says they can. The efficiency, cost effectiveness and competitiveness of existing payment options in the U.S., such as the ACH network, remain a roadblock to stablecoins becoming a mainstream payment option.
The next survey might find two businesses using stablecoins. Or it might find the same one.